Mystery remains on who built Victoria's Great Ocean Road

More than 3000 men worked to construct Victoria's Great Ocean Road and now the challenge has been set to name and recognise every one.

Starting in August 1919, the 243 kilometre road that weaves along the coastline, was progressively built through to 1939 using picks and shovels.

It was originally designed to provide employment for ex-servicemen who had just returned from World War One.

While the names of the 2400 ex-servicemen and 600 civilians were recorded, the files were destroyed during the Second World War.

Twelve months ago, Portland's Family History Group took on the job of finding the names of as many workmen as possible.

"Twelve months on we've gone from 12 names and now we have 338 by a lot of hard work and a lot of publicity," group president Iain Grant says.

"But we figure it's now time to start again and try and refresh the idea in people's mind and get to those people who haven't already given us the information."

He says the files of the Great Ocean Road Trust were deliberately destroyed during World War II.

"The chap who was secretary of the trust at the time also ran a movie film company and with the advent of the Second World War, room became paramount and he destroyed all the Great Ocean Road Trust files to make room for news film of the war," Mr Grant says.

"It probably wasn't important at the time, but it's important now.

"We're coming up to 100 years since the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, so in 2014 that's a milestone we'd like to have this project finished by."

Iain Grant says they're keen to hear from anyone who had an involvement with the massive undertaking from surveyors, builders to the cooks that kept the men fed or the people who put up the tent villages where they lived.

"Who actually got down and dirty to build the road?" he asked.

"Who built the bridges, engineered the road that hugs the hills and who surveyed the trackless wastes to forge ahead to open up land to farmers and graziers?

"It was pretty hard yakka.

"I've seen photos of blokes with ropes tied around their waists as they pegged a foothold into the side of extremely steep hill, which they would then slowly work back into the hill to create an eight foot wide roadway."

Up until recently it wasn't clear if anyone had lost their life while the road was constructed, but Iain Grant says evidence now shows that lives were lost.

"On a Country Roads Board project, a sand mine collapsed and killed two blokes," he says.

"We know that not only did the Great Ocean Road Trust build parts of the road but also some of the coastal shires had sections allocated to them, that they were given funding to build as well.

"But also money was given to the State Government's Country Roads Board."

The project hopes descendants of people who were involved in the Great Ocean Road will come forward with details of the ex-servicemen or civilians involved.

"Also if a family holds photos or other memorabilia or anecdotes of life working on the road that may be copied or recorded for our records," Iain Grant says.

You can phone the Portland Family History Group on 03 5522 2266 or click on the email link below. You can also share information with us by click on the comments bar.